Attitash Nor Easter Mountain Coaster & Conway Scenic RR

After a trip to Story Land by myself, I took the opportunity to check out a local attraction, the Nor Easter Mountain coaster at Attitash Mountain Resort. I had planned on also hitting the mountain coaster at Cranmore, but I had trouble finding the price on the brochure and It did not work time-wise.

After a bit of a fight with traffic leaving Story Land, It look maybe an extra 10 minutes to get to Attitash. Good thing since the mountains attractions closed just about that time. I check in and bought my single ride ticket for $15 and made my way to the mountain coaster. The wait at this time was maybe 20 minutes. The attraction loads slowly. This is a bit surprising since the attraction has a separate loading and unloading area.

The attraction looks a bit strange to me. While upper parts of the coaster look a bit more traditional, the station area has a simpler steel construction. It looked a bit like a grown up erector set coaster. Looks like it could easily have been built in an hour, or in someones back yard.
The coaster itself is a bit of a mixed bag. The ride up is fantastic, great scenery with small streams. Its a long ride up but you elevate quickly. As you crest the top you pass a maintenance building that looks to have seen better days and are asked to pull up on the brake. You control the braking on the attraction which offers a top speed of 25 mph. The ride down was fun but as you got to the top speed the cart jackhammers and really feels unsafe. I found myself applying the brakes a bit more then I figured Id have to.

While I enjoyed the ride for the most part (and it a long ride), I doubt I will do it again. I feel its worth doing once but its not worth another $15. The resort offers an all day pass that includes water slides, an alpine slide, free fall leap, and offers unlimited rides. Not a bad deal in hind sight, but at $45 for the day or $30 for the last 3 hours its the most expensive thing to do in the area outside of Cranmore.

I checked out the other attractions before heading out. The water slides looked fun. Alpine slide was getting good business despite the safer mountain coaster next to it. There was also a very nice spray ground for smaller kids. The main building offered a very nice snack stand with fair prices but it was closed when I was there. I did however see a water cooler and cups so I got a drink before heading off.
As I left I heard the howl of a train whistle in the distance. I knew it was the Conway Scenic Rail Road. I soon realized it was heading to the Bartlett turn around. I caught the train to the right as I was driving and since the road is higher speed then the RR I was able to pull ahead. I was going by that stop to get home so I pulled over and waited for the train.

I got to watch the train pull in and then switch the locomotive from one end of the train to the other so that it could be pushed back to the main station in North Conway. I'm not huge on trains, but it was cool to get this little extra at the end of the day.

Two new Coaster Credits, one wood and one steel, brought my count to 78 total coasters. I got in Story Land, Attitashs Mountain Coaster, and the Conway Scenic Rail Road in one day. Not bad at all.